This graduate seminar will examine basic ideas and debates in the
writing of modern Middle Eastern history. Our readings will span the
history of the region since the eighteenth century, taking us from the
Ottoman Empire and Qajar Iran to their successor states in the
twentieth century. Among the topics that we will cover are: the
question of "Ottoman decline"; the "politics of notables"; the
significance of the Tanzimat reforms; politics and religion in the
Ottoman Empire and Qajar Iran; the roots of sectarian violence; the
origins of Arab nationalism; the rise of Middle Eastern feminist
movements; the nature of colonial rule; Turkish modernity and its
discontents; the military revolutions of the mid-20th century; and the
rise of Islamist politics.